Southern California -- this just in

San Diego mom delivers baby on side of freeway

A San Diego mom didn't quite make it to the hospital in time -- she delivered her son along a freeway early Monday morning with the help of her husband and a 911 dispatcher, authorities said.

"I had no choice," father Aaron Reynolds said. "We were helpless. We were helpless on the side of the freeway, but [the dispatcher] was able to help us out. We really appreciate her from the bottom of our hearts."

The baby was born at 12:30 a.m. along the side of northbound Interstate 15, just north of Adams Avenue.

Aaron Reynolds said that he was driving his wife, Nicole, to the hospital when she said she couldn't wait any longer, so he pulled over under the Adams Avenue overpass.

"She's saying she needs to push. I'm accelerating, unfortunately, to at least try to get us to safety. But she said pull over the vehicle and any father when the wife says hey or the girlfriend says pull over, you better pull over," Reynolds said.

Reynolds said he tried to flag down help as he dialed 911 on his cellphone. An emergency dispatcher guided him through the delivery of his son.

"They actually told me, you know what, everything is OK. Stay calm. What do you have in your vehicle? Where are you located, and how soon do you think the baby is coming?"

The baby, whom the couple named Jeremiah, weighed in at a healthy 7 pounds, 8 ounces. He is their third child.